Current Affairs Update – 6th-8th August, 2016

• HDFC ERGO General Insurance
  Company has launched political risk insurance policy, whereby companies
  operating internationally will be protected against the adverse effects of
  arbitrary government actions and their assets and/or investments will be insured
  against expropriation.
• While covering businesses against
  political violence, the policy will also protect businesses against
  unfavourable currency inconvertibility, the general insurer said in a
  statement.
• The policy is designed to protect
  investors’ investments in overseas markets against unpredictable losses due to
  specified political perils such as expropriatory acts, selective
  discrimination, forced abandonment, forced divestiture, political violence and
  currency inconvertibility, it added.
• Political risk insurance is
  available to investors, lenders, contractors, exporters, and other similar
  entities for safeguarding their foreign assets or investments.
• According to the company
  statement, this insurance solution would allow businesses to take advantage of
  the expansion opportunities in emerging markets in a more prudent manner and
  also to manage risks of any existing investments in an evolving political risk
  environment.

• Union Minister of Urban
  Development M.Venkaiah Naidu on 6 August 2016 launched Swachh Suvekshan-2017
  project to assess and rank 500 cities based on levels of sanitation and efforts
  made by respective urban local bodies.
• It also aims to capture progress
  towards achieving Open Defecation Free status. 

• Cities will be ranked based on
  the reports by urban local bodies on the progress made towards construction of
  toilets, feedback of citizens and independent observation of sanitation levels.
• Cities with a population of one
  lakh and above each, heritage and tourism cities, capital cities with less than
  one lakh population are included in this survey.
• Quality Council of India which
  conducted the last Survey in 73 cities will conduct the survey in 500 cities
  and towns.

• Naidu also launched a web portal
  Swachhata App and Swachhta Helpline 1969 to enable citizens associate more and
  more with Swachh Bharat Mission in urban areas.
• Citizens can post photos of
  unhygienic places in urban areas on Swachh App and they will be informed of
  action taken by respective urban local bodies in specific time period.
• Using toll free Helpline Number
  1969, citizens can seek information about the ways of participating in
  cleanliness mission and can also enquire the status of their applications for
  construction of toilets.

• Asli Tarakki campaign was also
  launched to highlight the need for construction of toilets and using them well.
• This campaign will be mounted on
  TV channels and in print media.

• Indian Railway Catering and
  Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and the Manipur government have signed a Memorandum
  of Understanding (MoU), which seeks to provide improved hospitality and tourism
  services to their customers by making ‘joint use of their capabilities and
  facilities’.
• The MoU entails upon both the
  parties to identify areas of cooperation and draw up detailed plans for
  development of joint tourism products and opening and managing various catering
  and hospitality outlets, budget hotels and handicrafts shops at railway as well
  as non-railway locations.
• The areas where the two
  signatories would leverage their joint strength also include involvement of
  Self Help Groups (SHGs), setting up of water vending machines, use of Rail Neer
  (IRCTC’s packaged water) and development of lounges and greeting services for
  tourists.

• Telangana State Government on 6
  August 2016 launched a unique Water Resources Information System to assess
  accurate reserves of water in thousands of Tanks and reservoirs across the
  state.
• For this purpose, the Telangana
  Irrigation Department signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indian
  Space Research Organization over sharing satellite data.
• The new system will be set up by
  ISRO’s National Remote Sensing Centre.
• The unique system will help the
  government authorities to plan for new irrigation projects as well as
  maintaining transparency in governance. The Water Resources Information will
  also pave way for other states to explore possibilities to utilize technology.

• The Odisha government on 7 August
  2016 launched a special assistance scheme for elderly weavers, ‘Baristha
  Bunakar Sahayata Yojana’, to mark the National Handlooms Day.
• Under the scheme all weavers
  above the age of 60 years would get a monthly pension of 500 rupees, and those
  above 80 years would get 700 rupees.
• The scheme is aimed at improving
  the financial condition of over 8000 weavers, who have been working in this
  field for the last 20 years.
• The pension amounts would be
  directly sent to the beneficiaries bank accounts.
• On the occasion, chief minister
  Naveen Patnaik also gave away awards to weavers’ cooperative societies who have
  been relentlessly promoting and producing the traditional weaves of Odisha.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 7
  August 2016 launched Mission Bhagiratha at Komatibanda Village, Gajwel in Medak
  District of Telangana. The scheme was launched by the State Government with an
  objective to provide safe drinking water to all.
• The Prime Minister also unveiled
  plaques to lay Foundation Stones for important development projects. These
  included:
• 1600 MW Thermal Power station of
  NTPC at Ramagundam
• Revival of a Fertilizer Plant at
  Ramagundam; Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences, Warangal and
  Manoharabad-Kothapalli Railway line.
• He also dedicated to the nation
  the 1200 MW Thermal Power Station of Singareni Collieries at Jaipur in Adilabad
  district.

• Mission Bhagiratha is Telangana
  Water Grid Project intended to provide a sustainable and permanent solution to
  the drinking water woes.
• It is a pet project taken up at
  an outlay of 42000 crore rupees.
• Apart from creating a water grid
  for supply drinking water to houses, it aims to rejuvenate more than 45000
  water tanks.
• The water grid project aims at
  reaching out drinking water supply to even remotest place in the State to every
  household across the State in the coming four years.

• Union Health Minister J P Nadda
  on 5 August 2016 launched a nation-wide programme MAA – Mothers’ Absolute
  Affection for promoting breastfeeding.
• The goal of the programme is to
  enhance optimal breastfeeding practices.
• Madhuri Dixit chosen brand
  ambassador of of this programme.
• MAA is an intensified programme
  of the Health Ministry for creating an enabling environment to ensure that
  mothers, husbands and families receive adequate information and support for
  promotion of breastfeeding.
• The Ministry has allocated 30
  crore rupees for the Programme and 4.3 lakh rupees for each district will be
  allotted for implementing the various activities under MAA programme.
• The chief components of the MAA
  Programme are Community awareness generation, Strengthening inter personal
  communication through ASHA, Skilled support for breastfeeding at Delivery
  points in Public health facilities, and Monitoring and Award/recognition.

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• Dipa Karmakar, the Indian
  Gymnast, on 7 August 2016 created history by becoming the first Indian gymnast
  to enter the Olympic final at the Rio Olympic Centre.
• The 22-year-old qualified for the
  final round in the Individual vault final of artistic gymnastics after
  finishing eighth on the standings.
• Competing in the third
  sub-division, Dipa had an average score of 51.665. She scored 14.850 by
  performing her much-vaunted ‘Produnova’ vault cleanly on the vault, 11.666 on
  the uneven bars, 12.866 in balance beam and 12.033 in floor exercises.
• American Simone Biles, the
  three-time world all-round champion topped the charts with a score of 16.050.
  North Korea’s Jong Un Hong stood at the second position after securing 15.683
  followed by Switzerland’s Giulia Steingruber (15.266).

• Vijay Rupani, the newly elected
  leader of Gujarat BJP, was sworn in as the 16th Chief Minister of Gujarat on 7
  August 2016. Rupani, who succeeds Anandiben Patel, was the senior most cabinet
  minister in Anandiben Government.
• Apart from Rupani, Nitin Patel
  was also sworn-in as the Deputy Chief Minister of the state.
• Gujarat governor OP Kohli has
  administered the oath of post and secrecy to the Chief Minister Vijay Rupani
  and Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel at the Mahatma Mandir conference hall in
  Gandhinagar.
• Besides, new Council of Ministers
  of Vijay Rupani Government has also taken oath simultaneously. In total 25
  ministers took oath, out of which 9 Ministers took oath as the cabinet
  Ministers, while 16 ministers took oath as Minister of state (MoS).

• Manish Tandon was on 6 August
  2016 appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the CSS Corp, a global
  Technology Support company. He will be inducted as a whole time Director of the
  board and as CEO.
• He will succeed TG Ramesh, the
  current CEO who now moves onto the role of a strategic advisor role as a
  non-executive director on the board.

• 2nd National Handloom Day was
  observed across the country on 7 August 2016 with the main function being held
  at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. On this occasion, Sant Kabir Awards and National
  Handloom Awards were presented.
• The Day was also celebrated at
  state level in all the states and Day was also celebrated in more than 200
  handloom clusters.
• The first National Handloom Day
  was inaugurated on 7 August 2015 at the Centenary Hall of Madras University in
  Chennai, Tamil Nadu by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where he also unveiled
  ‘India Handloom’ brand.

• The 2016 World Breastfeeding Week
  (WBW) is being observed across the world. The week is held every year from 1 to
  7 August.
• The theme for the 2016 World
  Breastfeeding Week is Breastfeeding: A key to Sustainable Development. The
  theme aims at raising awareness of the links between breastfeeding and the
  Sustainable Development Goals.
• The week is organized by World
  Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA), World Health Organisation (WHO) and
  UNICEF.

• China on 6 August 2016
  successfully launched its first satellite for mobile telecommunication,
  Tiantong-01.
• Tiantong-01 satellite was
  launched from southwestern China’s Xichang Satellite Launch Center, with the
  Long March-3B carrier rocket. More geostationary satellites will be sent into
  orbit for the system.
• It is the first satellite of
  China’s homemade satellite mobile telecom system, and a key part of the
  country’s space information infrastructure.

• Australian surfing champion
  Bernard Farrelly, best known as Midget for his slight size, died on 7 August
  2016. He was 71.
• Bernard “Midget”
  Farrelly born on 13 September 1944 was an Australian world surfing champion.
• He won the first official surfing
  World Championship at Sydney’s Manly Beach in 1964 and dominated the sport as
  it gained popularity during that decade.
• In 1963, he became the first
  Australian to win a surfing major at the unofficial world championships in
  Makaha, Hawaii.

• Eminent Assamese litterateur
  Mahim Bora passed away on 5 August 2016 following old age problems at Nagaon
  district, Assam. He was 92. He is survived by a son and two daughters-in-law.
• Bora was a Padma Shri and Sahitya
  Akademi winner.